The pill can kill your sex drive

Women taking oral contraceptives may suffer a permanent loss of libido because of the Pill's effect on testosterone, a study has shown. Although testosterone is best known as male hormone, it is also produced by a woman's ovaries and governs her sex drive.

Women taking oral contraceptives may suffer a permanent loss of libido because of the Pill's effect on testosterone, a study has shown.

Although testosterone is best known as male hormone, it is also produced by a woman's ovaries and governs her sex drive.

Low testosterone activity is the reason why some women on the Pill experience a decline in sexual desire, say scientists.

The research also indicates that the loss is not immediately reversed if a Pill user stops taking oral contraceptives.

Long-term or even permanent sexual dysfunction may be the result, the findings suggest.

Suffered

The study looked at 124 pre-menopausal women who had suffered sexual health problems for more than six months.

They were split into three groups - those who were continuing to use oral contraceptives, those who had been on oral contraceptives for more than six months but had stopped taking them, and those who had never taken oral contraceptives.

The US researchers measured the women's levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that ties up testosterone and prevents it being used in the body.

They found that SHBG values in "continued users" of oral contraceptives were four times higher than in women who had never taken the Pill.

Levels of SHBG fell in women who stopped taking oral contraceptives, but were still higher than they were in "never users".

This raised the possibility that testosterone remains suppressed in women who come off the Pill.

Further long-term studies were needed to see if the change was permanent, said the researchers.

The women in the study who stopped taking oral contraceptives were monitored for an average of 196 days without the Pill.

Remarkable

Dr Andre Guay, one of the study authors from the Centre for Sexual Function/Endocrinology in Peabody, Massachusetts, described the findings as "remarkable".

He added: "For years we have known that a subset of women using oral contraceptive agents suffer from decreased sex drive.

"We know that the birth control pill suppresses both ovulation and also the male hormones that the ovaries make in larger amounts during the middle third of the menstrual cycle.

"SHBG bind the testosterone, therefore these pills decrease a woman's male hormone availability by two separate mechanisms. No wonder so many women have symptoms."

The findings were published today in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Oral contraceptives have been around for 40 years and are currently used by 100 million women worldwide. But the researchers said no-one had previously looked at the long term effect of SHBG on Pill users.

Several studies over the last 30 years have reported negative effects on sexual function in women taking oral contraceptives.

They include diminished sexual interest and arousal, a reduction of female-initiated sexual activity, and decreased frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual enjoyment.